Washington D.C.

While living in NYC for the last 3 1/2 years, we've been able to see so many awesome things and check almost everything off our east-coast bucket list. Since moving here, we've had a goal to visit Washington D.C. before we move back out west. Last year around this time, I sat down and figured out what the trip would cost, outlined a basic timeline, and wrote a list of sights to see while we were there, all with the intent of visiting last fall. For various reasons, financial and otherwise, we weren't able to follow through with the plan. 

In February of this year, I sat down again to figure out when we could go. Things fell together so perfectly this time. I was amazed at how smoothly this trip came together, and know that it wasn't a coincidence. We've been so busy with the daily grind of life for the last year or so, and all the stresses that come with that had begun to distract us from each other and all of our blessings. This trip was amazing in that it gave us time to just be with each other, recenter ourselves, and refocus on what's important to us. Without any work worries, responsibilities, technological or other distractions, we were able to reconnect and find us again. Along with all of that we were able to see some incredible sights.

This trip was a first for both of us, as neither Brian nor myself had been to D.C. before. We spent four days there (April 10-13), and we were constantly going during each day because there was so much we wanted to see. We took the Boltbus down and back, and were so glad that we did. The fare was incredibly cheap and the ride was fine. 

We made it to the bus stop on Thursday morning with plenty of time to spare, so of course I spent the time taking pictures. Brian checked out a fancy-dancy camera from work for us to use during the trip, and it was so fun to use. We met the bust at 6th Avenue between Grand and Watts (lower Manhattan), and had a great view of the Freedom Tower. This was the first time I'd really seen it since the exterior was finished.

It was a beautiful morning, albeit a bit chilly with the wind blowing. I was hoping that the temperature in D.C. would be the 71 degrees promised by weather.com, because we had only brought light jackets. Finally, a bus pulled up, let off a lot of people, and then drove off. We were all a little worried, because it was about 15 minutes past our pickup time. After another five minutes our bus finally arrived, we boarded, and started off. We drove through the Holland tunnel on our way out of town, which was fun. The drive took about four hours, and we only ran into traffic just outside of D.C. We drove through four states to get there: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and finally Maryland. That was kind of cool. 

We arrived at Union Station in downtown D.C., excited and ready to start sightseeing. Union Station is a beautiful building. It made us even more anxious to see the sights -- if the train/metro station was this grand, the National Mall would have to be even more so. Union Station is such a long building that we could only capture the center section straight on in a photograph.

Before leaving the station we bought some lunch. As we were wandering out of the building, we stopped to snap a picture of the interior shopping area.

Walking out of the station's front doors, we caught our first glimpse of the U.S. Capitol. We knew then that our trip was going to be amazing.

A couple quick facts about Union Station: it was opened in 1907; presently about 32 million people pass through its walls each year; it was busiest during WWII when 200,000 people passed through it daily; the six sculptures above the main entrance represent Prometheus (Fire), Thales (Electricity), Themis (Freedom and Justice), Apollo (Imagination and Inspiration), Ceres (Agriculture) and Archimedes (Mechanics). 

We headed to our hotel next, to check-in and drop off our bags. We stayed at the Washington Court Hotel, located on the corner of New Jersey Avenue and F Street. It was nice, and in a perfect location, only four short blocks from the Capitol Building. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a hotel in the area. We got an amazing deal online and paid less than $100 per night. This was our view each morning as we walked up towards the mall.

Brian's parents, who've been to D.C. a couple of times, warned us that we needed good shoes because the sights are set far apart and we would be doing a lot of walking. They weren't kidding. The National Mall is four miles long, measured from the Lincoln Memorial to the Library of Congress. That distance doesn't include the southern loop that you take to get to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. We walked 9 miles the first day, 12 miles the second, and 7 miles each of the remaining days. Brian's shoes were trashed before we went on our trip, so we bought him a new pair a couple weeks before we left. I thought my shoes were fine, but after the first day I realized that they weren't. I ended up with two blisters on each foot after our second day of walking. With some band-aids and cotton padding, I was fine and able to keep up the crazy pace. It was all worth it, and I wouldn't have changed a thing about our trip.

New York has spoiled us. Even though we do a lot of walking, the sites in Manhattan are relatively close together. To give you some perspective of the distances between each sight, I've included the below pictures. This is the view of the Washington Monument from steps of the Capitol Building.

This is a view of the Capital Building when we were standing about halfway between it and the Washington Monument.



This is the view of the Washington Monument from the bottom steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Source
For a larger view visit the Source link.

Day one of the trip, we walked up to the Capitol from our hotel and then all the way across the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial. We saw the U.S. Capitol, Grant's Memorial, the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, and the Lincoln Memorial. We had plans to see the Vietnam Memorial and Korean War Memorial while we were down there, but the camera battery died and our our aching feet where already dreading the four mile walk back to our hotel. So we called it a day and headed back.

Day two, we saw the exterior of the Supreme Court, took a tour of the Capitol Building, toured the National Air and Space Museum, toured the Smithsonian Museum of American History, visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and stopped at the Korean War Memorial. We bravely soldiered on and walked around the southern loop, where we got to see the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. 

Day three, we went on a self guided tour of the Library of Congress-Thomas Jefferson Building, visited the National Archives, and spent the entire afternoon at the International Spy Museum. 

Day four, we walked down to the White House then back to our hotel, staying along the north edge of the Mall. We checked out of our hotel and walked back to Union Station, where we caught our bus back to New York. 

The only thing that was on our list that we didn't get to see was Arlington Cemetery. We just didn't have enough time to make it out there. Although we are both a little disappointed that that didn't happen, after looking back at our trip, we don't know where we would have fit it in. 

We are also both happy that we went to Philadelphia and Gettysburg last year, because both of those trips provided perspective and background details that made this trip even more meaningful.

Our bus ride home took two hours longer than scheduled, due to backed up traffic south of Trenton, NJ. Apparently everyone wants to get back there on Sunday night. After we passed the exits for Trenton, traffic picked up and we were able to drive at a normal speed. We arrived back at our original drop-off point, happy and exhausted. I snapped a picture of the Freedom Tower all lit up.  

We both agreed that our Washington D.C. getaway was so much fun. We saw everything that we wanted to, minus the cemetery, and have decided that if we never have the chance to go back, that we are completely satisfied. There wasn't one thing that disappointed either of us. In fact, more often than not, our expectations were exceeded. I'm so grateful that we took this trip. If you haven't been to D.C., I strongly encourage you to go, it was worth it. Our nation's capitol is an inspiring, impressive, and beautiful place.

P.S. Don't worry, I'm going to have at least another dozen posts about our trip. We just saw too much each day to show in a single post. I'm planning to write one post about each major thing we saw, so I can share all the fun pictures we took. :) Thanks for reading!